Brendan Smith (Cavan-Monaghan, Fianna Fail)

Under the agreement that was concluded with pig processors in December 2008, €180 million is being made available from the public finances to help processors to fund the recall and destruction of certain pork products that were in the market or in storage at the time of the recall. The details of the agreement, which allowed processing plants to resume operations within a week, are reflected in the pigmeat recall scheme that has been established by the Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food. The scheme, which covers affected products in Ireland and in overseas markets, is important in so far as it will ensure that such products are destroyed and will facilitate the return to normal market conditions. The Department is involved in other activities to assist the pigmeat sector. Along with Bord Bia, the Department is actively seeking to restore access to markets that were temporarily closed due to the dioxin incident. I am glad that our efforts to date have brought some success. The frank and open way in which we dealt with the issue has borne fruit.

The EU "aids to private storage" scheme, which has a potential cost of €15 million, might also prove beneficial in this regard. It allows for the temporary removal of 30,000 tonnes of pigmeat from the market. Some €37.1 million has been paid so far under the pork recall scheme, which provides for assistance in respect of eligible produce manufactured from pigs slaughtered in Ireland between 1 September and 6 December 2008. A case has been made to consider offering help in respect of other products manufactured in Ireland that were affected by the product recall, including products containing both Irish and imported pigmeat and products made here using solely imported pigmeat that, at the time of the recall, could not be segregated satisfactorily to facilitate their sale. The Department is considering the position of such products and the claims made by some people in the industry.

See this speech in context